More Than a Symptom: Understanding and Assessing Sleep Disturbances in Psychiatric Practice

Sleep–wake disturbances (SWDs) are both symptoms and drivers of psychiatric illness. Insomnia, hypersomnia, circadian rhythm disruptions, and other SWDs not only exacerbate mood, anxiety, psychotic, and trauma-related disorders, but can also precede relapse and impair treatment response. Yet sleep disorders remain underdiagnosed and undertreated in psychiatric settings, often dismissed as secondary phenomena rather than modifiable therapeutic targets. This clinically focused session will examine the bidirectional relationship between sleep/wake regulation and mental health, highlighting shared neurobiological pathways and the clinical consequences of untreated SWDs. Faculty will provide practical tools to enhance detection of insomnia, hypersomnia, and circadian disturbances in routine psychiatric care, including targeted screening questions, validated instruments, and red flags that warrant specialty referral. Participants will develop patient-centered, cross-disciplinary treatment plans that integrate behavioral interventions, pharmacologic strategies, chronotherapeutic approaches, and collaboration with sleep medicine specialists. The goal is to equip clinicians with actionable strategies to improve diagnostic precision, optimize psychiatric outcomes, and restore functional recovery through better sleep.

Supported by an educational grant from Harmony Biosciences.